so I was just lookin at my tank today that only houses 4 platys, and what do I see?? a new little guy swimming around, the tank is fairly new and just finished cycling, and to be completely honest, I have no idea what to do, obviously I want him to survive, and for future episodes like this id like to know what to do....should he be in a different tank? should I be feeding him differently?? because hes made it this far and hes pretty big!! I dont see any other new guys around the tank so im assuming hes the only one who made it, any advice would be really helpful! thanks!!

tanker

09-24-2010 10:27 PM

I had the same thing happen. I found a baby who had survived (you can see his picture on my 75-litre profile). He's never been tended to separately. He just lives in the tank and eats whatever it is that he's been eating. As yours has grown big, he must have been finding his own food. I suspect he'll just continue to grow, as mine has. Do you have plants or other hiding spots? When he was really little, my baby would hide in the java moss. The big platies would chase him, but he'd hide in the plants. If yours has somewhere to hide, he can survive being eaten by his own methods, as mine has. Mine's big enough now not to have to hide from everybody else.

1077

09-25-2010 12:44 AM

Adding live floating plants or Java moss as mentioned can increase fry survival rates by as much as 50 percent.If you were to look closely at the livebearer's you will note that they have upturned mouths, which suggest that they feed primarily from the surface. Fry are instinctively drawn to the surface and this is where they feed from.Livebearer's are largely herbivores and will eat bits of plant matter,and infusoria (creatures) that are found on and in the plants along with algae also found on plants to some degree.
Live or artificial plants on the surface for fry to hide in and eat from, is suggested ,along with foods containing vegetable matter and or algae. Spirulina flake,with occasional meaty foods can be offered as well.Should be no surprise when keeping these fish when fry appear, Is what they do . Am troubled at times by those who suddenly seem surprised at the arrival of fry when keeping livebearer's and hope some of the above helps.